McNeair supporters meet with governor's attorney
Sep. 13—RALEIGH — Advocates seeking clemency for inmate Charles Anthony McNeair say they're encouraged after an hourlong meeting with Gov. Roy Cooper's general counsel Tuesday, but they still don't have the answers they're looking for.
Nor does McNeair, who has been incarcerated 43 years, have his freedom.
"I thought he listened attentively," Wanda Cox, chairwoman of Advocates for Charles McNeair, said of the group's meeting with Eric Fletcher, the governor's general counsel. "He asked questions. He took notes. I do feel like he is listening."
The group was unable, however, to get a definitive answer about the likelihood of McNeair's clemency.
"They're very ambiguous with their answers," Cox said. "At this point, we hear the case is still pending. We tried to pin him down on a date, but we couldn't get an exact answer."
In 1979, McNeair, who grew up in Davidson County, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to a second-degree rape charge. Only 16 at the time, McNeair says he's innocent of the crime, but took the plea deal because he was told he could face the death penalty if he didn't.
Now 60, McNeair is currently incarcerated at the Wilkes Correctional Center in Wilkes County.
Supporters say McNeair, whether guilty or innocent, has more than served his time — and has been a model prisoner — but he's been denied parole. They can only scratch their heads in wonder when they see convicted killers — who have served far fewer years than McNeair — being released.
A year ago this month, Duke Law School's Clemency Project submitted a petition on McNeair's behalf to the Juvenile Sentence Review Board, a panel established by the governor to review sentences imposed on individuals who were tried as adults for crimes committed before they were 18. When deemed appropriate, the board can recommend clemency to the governor, but so far the board has not acted on McNeair's petition.
That frustrates Cox and her fellow McNeair supporters, who on Tuesday included Lexington Mayor Jason Hayes; Lexington City Councilman Garrett Holloway; Harvey McNeair's, the prisoner's brother; and the Rev. Alan Suber, vice president of Lexington's chapter of the NAACP, among others.
"We were there to ask the question of why clemency hasn't been provided," Suber said. "We didn't get an answer, but we continue to press forward."
According to Suber, the group will sponsor a protest on the afternoon of Sept. 30 in front of the Davidson County Courthouse in Lexington. It will begin at 4:30 p.m., representative of the 43 years McNeair has been incarcerated, Suber said.
Cox said her group will continue to fight for McNeair until he wins his freedom.
"It shouldn't take this long," she said.
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